Louis Eugene Lambert (1825 - 1900)

Painter of figures and animals, Lambert was born in Paris in 1825. He was a pupil of Delacroix and copied the old masters at the Louvre, where he was very influenced by the Flemish School. Lambert debuted at the Salon in 1847 with a still life of birds. In 1854, he moved to the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris, where he lived with other artists including Toulmouche. Lambert's great success at the Salon of 1857 with 'Cat and Parakeet' decided his career; thereafter he garnered a world-wide reputation as a painter of cats and dogs, and was dubbed the 'Raphael of Cats'. He received medals in 1865, 1870 and was presented with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1874. In 1874, he painted Baron de Rothschild surrounded by his dogs. He died in Paris in 1900.